Evolving landscape of internet governance: why multi-stakeholder dialogue matters?

The digital world is expanding at a pace that consistently outstrips the policies designed to guide it. In this context, Mr. Edmond Chung, CEO of DotAsia, presented the history, current situation, and the path forward of Internet governance. He opened by underscoring the vital importance of youth-led research, which not only introduces fresh insights into complex digital issues but also guides the policymakers responsible for shaping the future of the online world. 

When young researchers engage directly with issues such as copyright, privacy, and governance, they deepen their understanding of these systems and highlight the realities surrounding them.  

One example is the exploration of copyright in the digital realm. While copyright is essential for protecting creative work, it faces unprecedented challenges online, from rapid content sharing to ambiguous ownership trails. The digital environment, with its fluidity and massive scale, demands that copyright frameworks evolve. Without adaptation, overly rigid systems risk stifling innovation and creativity rather than protecting it.  

Yet, regulation is not straightforward. Expecting service providers to perform constant monitoring or surveillance to enforce copyright raises questions around feasibility, privacy, and fairness. This reflects a broader truth: policy regulation in digital spaces is inherently complex.  

Internet governance itself can be understood as a “symbiosis of warped space, speed, and scale,” a unique space-time experience that challenges traditional regulatory models. Unlike the top-down, multilateral systems of the United Nations, Internet governance operates on a multi-stakeholder model. This means governments, private sector actors, civil society, academia, and technical experts must all engage in dialogue, cross-check one another’s assumptions, and collaboratively shape outcomes.  

Critically, Internet governance is a bottom-up process driven by consensus. And because the Internet is a global public resource, its governance must reflect global public interest. The multi-stakeholder approach should not appear only at the end of policy development; it must be integrated from agenda-setting and design, through deliberation and development, all the way to decision-making and implementation.  

Any conversation about Internet governance inevitably intersects with pressing concerns such as privacy, data safety, and the proliferation of fake news. As societies work to combat misinformation and disinformation, they face the delicate task of balancing hate speech regulation with the protection of free speech, a balance that is increasingly difficult to maintain. The future of policy must also include algorithmic accountability and auditability, ensuring that the systems shaping our digital experiences can be inspected, understood, and corrected when necessary.  

One cautionary example is the European Union’s Right to Data Erasure. While well-intentioned, its development did not undergo comprehensive multi-stakeholder consultation. As a result, end-users are now bombarded with cookie consent banners, which is a design outcome that technical teams could have warned would be both cumbersome and ineffective. This case serves as a reminder that policies crafted without technical expertise can lead to real-world inefficiencies and unintended consequences.  

At the IGF 2025, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt captured a fundamental truth: “Your digital self belongs to you.” In essence, digital sovereignty must be at the core of future governance frameworks. People must have agency over their data, identities, and digital footprints. As we move forward, complexification must precede simplification. Only by fully grappling with the layered technical, social, and ethical dimensions of Internet governance can we design solutions that are both effective and implementable. Youth-led research, multi-stakeholder cooperation, and adaptive policymaking will be essential in shaping an internet that is safe, open, innovative, and respectful of digital rights.